By Judy Villanueva

Luke 13:1-16

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

“What are you afraid of?” I asked my husband. He turned and looked at me with the most curious expression, almost as though he didn’t understand the question. “Well…nothing really,” he responded. “Nothing? You are not afraid of anything?” I queried. I have struggled with fear for as long as I can remember and God was helping me understand that I was living under the constraint of it as though it was normal! It felt like God was taking me by the hand and walking me into the light of understanding my condition. Not all at once, but gently, as I could handle the reality of my crippled state. And, as it became clearer and clearer that I was living “bent over” and unable to straighten, a desire arose in my heart…for freedom!

Sadly, we get used to being “bent over” and walk about the planet unaware that staring at the ground is not what we were made for!

Whether it is fear that pushes us downward or something else, God sees our condition and cares. He absolutely and always remembers that we were created for freedom. Jesus saw the crippled woman in synagogue and, as naturally as taking the next breath, He simply spoke the will of God over her, “Woman, you are set free.” She then felt the hands of God touch her and immediately straightened up to praise Him!

Dare we look with Jesus at where and how we are bent? It is easier to pretend that we are fine or, hide our “bent” parts so that no one will see our brokenness. We are embarrassed and ashamed but God is not! He keeps seeing who He made us to be and cherishes every bit of us…always!  What is curious to me about this healing encounter is that there is no mention of the crippled woman asking for healing.

It blesses me to read that after eighteen years of being stooped over she got up from wherever she was and walked crooked to synagogue!

There she knew she would be near to God and hear his Word.  What she could not have known is that on that day she would show up bent and leave straightened, loved and set free.

“Jesus, that you saw this woman reminds me afresh of who you are! A Healer, an Advocate, and a Straighten-upper:) Thank you that you never get lost in what you are doing and forget how much we need you! Come and touch me and anyone reading this in need of healing today. Amen.”

What about you?

Have you gotten use to being “bent over”? Do the things that bind you feel normal?

How do you feel about being helped to see, with Jesus, where you are “bent over”?

Can you trust Jesus to take you by the hand to freedom?

God is the One who lifts up, straightens and breaths freedom! Please don’t settle for a life “bent over”. He came that we might have life to the full! (John 10:10)

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By Judy Villanueva

Zephaniah 3:17                                                                                                                                                   The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Psalm 73:26                                                                                                                                                            My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Sitting on the deck overlooking a vista that stretches out for miles, I found myself a witness to declarations of emerald green, sage and hints of autumn yellow.  In those spacious moments, with only the wind and a sweet black lab to keep me company, I felt the reality of God surround me.  It’s always there, I know, but I tend to get lost in the here and now of my life and, too often, lose hold of the Divine Presence that offers me its consolations of love every minute of every day.  With beauty His backdrop, the Eternal, Immortal, Invisible God intruded on my temporal reality and offered me a gift of peace. Himself!

Have you ever noticed that life is always an integration of the temporal and eternal?  Our present, physical circumstances and the Kingdom of God in our midst! In other words, we live in two realities all the time.  One that we can see and touch, and the other, Invisible —

Loved, watched over, purposed and protected, always the Beautiful Reality next to us, even when we cannot see or feel it.

Stressors and joys, wins and losses, births and deaths happen in the context of God’s sovereignty.  That’s HUGE because the Reality that God holds all of life all the time wants to ignite faith, refresh hope and become a place of peace in our midst.

When trials come, it is easy to live disintegrated and narrowed to experiencing life in the temporal.  Worry likes to pound its fist and insist we define reality strictly by what we can see and know.

But any perspective void of the God in our midst will confine the soul and cut off hope.

I want the Truth of God, wise and powerful, kind and good, “over, above, in and through,” to infuse my days with drips of eternity!  I want the Divine to break in and declare that God is always with me and that my life isn’t just about my life.  It is about a victorious warrior who is building a Kingdom right in the middle of my “here and nows.”  He is the God in our midst who rejoices over us and breaks into our temporal realities with declarations of emerald green, shouts of joy, and a gift of peace.  Himself!

“Thank you, Father, that you are the God in our midst!  Awaken me to this reality, and help me enter into your good company today.  For your exultations of joy and quiet love, that you rejoice and shout joy over me, thank you!  Amen.”

How about you?

How do you pull the reality of God into your day-to-day life?

Do you need to remember that God is with you?

Are you “intrudible”? Or, does “busy” keep you from noticing God in your midst?

When was the last time you felt the reality of God surround you?

Knowing God and spending time in His Word renews our minds, refreshes our faith and helps us experience His Heart.

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By Judy Villanueva

Luke 19:1-6

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

I love Zacchaeus’ spunk and determination! Even though his profession was dubious and his choices up to this point, questionable, when he hears that Jesus is coming he runs ahead and climbs a tree. Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus and he doesn’t let his stature or a tall crowd get in his way!  Watching him run, climb and sit eagerly perched in a tree tugs at something in my heart this morning…

The tax collector’s curiosity about Jesus, a kind that chases him up a tree, confronts me. Zacchaeus’ determination to go after what would probably be only a glimpse of Jesus invites me to “wake up” with fresh eyes for the coming of Christ in my day. Think about it!

Jesus arrives in our day, every day!  He comes our way and asks if He can stay with us.

How often do I miss Jesus because I’m not even expecting Him and how can I possibly welcome Him with gladness if I don’t even notice His presence in my day?

As I read this passage, my attention shifts to Jesus and I am struck at what happens next! Up in the sycamore tree with Zaccheus, I see Jesus in the distance and my heart begins to race! I, too, have heard stories and find myself longing to hear his voice and see his face. How I want His life to touch mine! To my delight and utter amazement, when He reaches the branch where Zacchaeus and I sit, He looks up!

He knows we are eager for His notice and His notice affirms us in the deepest place of our soul.

I feel taught by Zacchaeus today. He shows me what it looks like to run past curiosity to a tree climbing pursuit of Jesus! Today, I want to remember that Jesus is coming!  I want to be present to life with eager expectation and feel His touch through sweet embraces, the kindness of His Word, and the gentle movements of grace that bless me each day.  I want to welcome Jesus with gladness however He comes to me today!

“Lord Jesus, thank You for looking for me up in trees or wherever I happen to be. Forgive my apathy in not watching for your daily arrivals. Fill me with fresh fervor to climb trees, hang out on branches, and welcome you with gladness. Amen.”

What about you?

Are you tuned in to the commotion that is signaling the coming of Christ in your life today?

Are you curious about Jesus? Who is He?

Is there anything keeping you from seeing Jesus?

Are you watching and waiting for God’s arrival in your day? Are you ready to welcome Him with gladness?

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By Judy Villanueva

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft. (Deuteronomy 32:10-11)

A live video feed was recently posted online with a bird’s eye view, so to speak, of an eagle hovering over her egg.  She shifted back and forth in the nest, never taking her eyes off the oval incubator that held her little eaglet.  From time to time she poked the egg with her beak as if to entice her offspring to break the shell that confined her.  “Knock, knock, knock” she pecked, “A life of flight awaits you! Break through!”  Birth, or in this case, shell-shedding happens in its own time but until then, anyone who tuned in, observed this majestic creature shielding the new life hidden within her egg and keeping a careful watch.

Life often forms in hiddenness.

It can appear and feel as though nothing is happening, but God is always hovering over our depths and dreaming into us!

No one escapes injury in the course of growing up!  Even the best parents are human and even the most resilient child lives in a fallen world.  Places of confinement develop right alongside places of freedom.  Are you aware of when and where you are “shelled-in”?  It is often revealed in those times when we feel trapped and subject to worry, anger, fear or sadness.  These strong emotions can surround us and become a kind of confinement that hinders our freedom to love, experience joy, or soar as God intended.  What do we do with these tight places and how do we break through to flight?

“Ruach Elohim” is the Hebrew phrase in these verses that refers to the Wind Breath of God! Just as He did when he hovered over the surface of the deep and called forth light and a world brimming with life, God watches over our lives with care and sees our unformed potential.

He knows what’s in the egg!

What has touched me this week as I have watched a mother eagle hover over her babe is the reality of God’s careful attention over my life. That the God of the universe hovers over me is not only astounding, it fills me with shell-shedding hope!  It makes me grateful and gives me courage to breakthrough and fly in freedom — on the wind breath of God!

“Ruach Elohim, breathe on me!  Create new life and give me wings to fly!  Thank you that you see my places of confinement and know just how to set me free.  Help me notice your voice that  invites me to new life.  Amen.”

What about you? 

Where are your places of confinement?  Where do you lack freedom to love, forgive, or trust?

Do you know that God watches over your life with care?  That He dreams into you?

What do you need from God today?  Where do you need a breakthrough?

The Wind Breath of God called forth light from darkness and a world brimming with life!  This is the One who watches over you!

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By Judy Villanueva

John 11:38-44
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Can you see Jesus standing before the tomb that holds His dear friend? It has been four days. Go there with me and, imagine being with Jesus in front of the cave and watch the story unfold! Mary and Martha are there along with others who loved this man and his family. It’s dusty and I can hear the shuffling of feet on the sandy ground. “What did Jesus say? He wants to take the stone away? Why?” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” I hear these words as if they have traveled over 2000 years and found me typing in my little office. God is speaking to me! I want to believe! I want to see the glory of God! I suddenly realize that some of my stuff is in that tomb! Hopes that have died — prayers that have grown tired, dreams that have been dragged there by long years of waiting.

I look at the tomb that holds the dead…and then, I look at Jesus! He knows. There are tears of love in His eyes and in mine as I feel intimately known and loved. Then, He turns and faces the mouth of the cave and shouts, “Lazarus, come forth!”  There is a hush that sweeps across the site and a pressured pause as we all wait with wide-eyed anticipation. Then, we hear it…can it be?  Footsteps!  All eyes are on the mouth of the cave.  Now, watch…don’t miss it!  There!  A shadow!  And now, a dead man raised and walking out of his tomb!  Standing at the cave next to the One for whom nothing is impossible, we witness the beauty and wonder of life called forth from death!  I fall to the ground in sheer awe and utter amazement! The glory of God is spectacular! I want to dance! I want to cry! My God can do anything!

Almost unwittingly, I find myself peeking around Jesus as He hugs His friend to see if I can catch a glimpse of my stuff.  Where is it???  It’s not in the tomb!  How can I go from awe to panic in a mili-second?  Where’s my dead stuff?  Befuddled, I turn scanning for my shattered hopes, my disappointments, fatigued prayers and lifeless dreams. Then Jesus says, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”  What on earth? There in front of me is Jesus asking me to believe and inviting me to witness the glory of God! And, to my surprise, held safely in His arms, is all my dead stuff! Jesus holds my pages of prayers, my worries, loved ones, hopes and dreams!  He looks at me and says, “Come forth!” — and I feel a surge of faith, dreams awakening, worries resting, and hopes breathing again.

“Lord God almighty! You are faithful! You are all powerful, all good, all knowing…and You love me! You know me! All the time, in every thing, You know me. Thank you that You care about my hopes and dreams. Call forth the things that have died in me and let the reality that Jesus stands with me help me to believe and watch for Your glory! Amen.”

How about you?

Do you have hopes, dreams, prayers, and weathered faith left for dead in a tomb?

How might you pray if Jesus were standing next to you? How might you ask Him to pray for you?

Do you want to see the glory of God? Do you need help to believe?

Pray. Ask God to call forth life!

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